Saturday, July 25, 2009

My Routine: Hitting the Reset Button on Sleep

So it's 8 am on Thursday morning and I still haven't fallen asleep. Which is not as atypical for me as it might be for you. I am thinking about my delayed phase sleep disorder and how trying to go to bed a half an hour early over a series of days and weeks just doesn't seem like it is working. So I decide to take the drastic approach.

I didn't go to bed.

I basically stayed awake for 33 hours straight.

I never pulled all nighters in college; I just couldn't hack it. Remember, back in college, prior to chronic illness, I had a double major---kinesiology and sleep! O.K., I'm just kidding ... or not.

singly well. I kind of "hit the wall" around 7 PM on Thursday and felt not so good. I craved sleep when bedtime arrived and I jumped into bed right away. Amazingly, I fell asleep rather easily. I woke up a few times---1am, 2am and 3am---but then settled in a longer stretch of sleep. I awoke when my alarm went off at 9:30 am, in time to take the dogs to the groomers for their 10 am appointment.

I amazed my husband and friend Cyndie with my radical approach to resetting my circadian clock. They both commented at dinner tonight that they were surprised it worked after just one day. To be honest, I'm a little surprised too, but also grateful. It will be nice to get back on a more human schedule instead of keeping vampire hours.

Now if only I didn't need to sleep 9 to 10 hours a night...

DISCLAIMER: If you think you have delayed phase sleep disorder, you need to talk to your doctor about personalized strategies to deal with your particular situation. I am not a medical professional.